t 



222 



RECREATION. 



uh snaick er graoun, 'n we raised ouah own 

 cawn n' gyarden truck, hawgs 'n sturrs, 

 made ouah own licka en wuz fair relijus. 

 I hed met up eth Cal (her husband) at 

 bush meetin's, 'n kain er tuk uh faincy ter 

 him, though Fs young then. He b'longed 

 tuh anurr mounting fam'ly daown 't th 

 foot er th' rainge. I reck n, stranger, aisk- 

 in' yo' pahdon, et I mus' er bin a fair luk'n 

 gal then, 'cause I rec'lecs once a aing'neer 

 er the guv'n'ment frum th' Furry 'peared 

 ter like me right smaht. He used ter haing 

 'raoun ouah place considerbul, 'n oncet he 

 aisked me fer tuh mairry him. He said 

 he'd cairry me tuh th' city fer ter live. But 

 I jes cud'n beah tuh leave these hyare ole 

 mountings, 'n besides Fd got et inter my 

 haid 't I wan't fer no sich ez him enny- 

 ways. Why, I cud'n er felt no bettah in 

 er city en a wild bird would in uh caigc. 

 No, suh, I jes cud'n go. 



"Long abaout this time th' revenner offi- 

 suhs got wind uh Pap's still. They waited 

 fer him and ketched him et wuhk. They 

 smaished th' still n' tuk Pap in er waggin, 

 entendin' fer tuh put him in jail. 'Cal' hed 

 laid low n' watched th' whole thing, 'n et 

 wah him ez gethered th' gaing fer to take 

 Pap away fum th' offisuhs. The gaing came 

 up 'th 'em goin' daown the mounting, broke 

 the irons off'n the ole main, smashed th' 

 waggin ter shivers 'n tuhned th' offisuhs 

 loose fer tuh git home the bes' they could. 

 Uv coahs I jes' natchully seemed ter kind 

 uh b'long ter Cal e-fteh thet. He see this 



'n shined up to me more peahrt, 'n efter 

 we'd ben er coahtin fer nigh onto foah 

 yeahs we wuz mairried by er travel'n Meth- 

 odis' pahson. 



"We lived up 't th' ole place fer quite er 

 spell, 'n then we moved daown heah 'n tuk 

 this place. Yuh see, we got er little paitch 

 er graoun, er house et'll keep aout th' col', 

 an' 6 good chil'lern. We mainages ter 

 git uh livin', 'n I reck'n, stranger, we ain't 

 got no cause fer tuh graowl." 



At this moment the youngsters returned. 

 Presenting them with the promised paper 

 of tobacco and some small change by way 

 of good measure. I took my departure. 

 Before I was out of sight, mother and chil- 

 dren were pulling away with evident relish 

 at their old cob pipes, the baby meanwhile 

 wailing at the ton of his voice, doubt- 

 less in protest at not being allowed to 

 join in. 



Returning to what had proved a Water- 

 loo as long as I remained on the ground, I 

 found that Billy had landed 5 bass. The 

 fires of hope, kindled within me at sight 

 of them, were destined to be dismally ex- 

 tinguished by the failure to hook a single 

 fish, though Billy got 3 more. 



At sunset we packed our traps and start- 

 ed home. Billy was pleased in the posses- 

 sion of his fish ; but not more so than I 

 was at the peep I had had into a sphere of 

 life with which I had until then been un- 

 familiar. 



AMATEUR PHOTO BY P. SPITTAL. 



THE FOSTER MOTHER. 

 Winner of 26th Prize in Recreation's 8th Annual Photo Competition. 



